Under the Two Suns
by Mr Stampede
Summary: Vash comes back home and Reunites with the girls. But what of knives? What will be the future of all four people?


Water flowed into the sky, spreading itself like a cool blanket. Yelps of surprise and glee yells erupted from the nearby townsfolk as the water kept pouring down. Children ran around, dancing and playing in the water while the adults opted to stay under its life-giving presence.

"Ma'am! Ma'am! We struck water!" yelled out an excited Milly Thompson. She basked in the feeling of the cool drops hitting her hot, dry skin.

"It's about time we got water! I was worried that we would die of thirst in this small town!" A short raven haired woman named Meryl Styfe said. She equally enjoyed the water as she closed her eyes, enjoying the cool feeling that surrounded her body.

Milly looked around, noticing the joyful looks the townsfolk had. Now, this town would prosper and its economy would blossom. She looked around, gazing at the hopeful looks of the people. She sighed, wondering how Vash would be acting if he would be enjoying the water like the rest of the people.

Vash, what a knucklehead he was. Give him a doughnut and you would be his best friend. Give him a box… well, you can imagine. Maybe that's why he had taken a liking to Meryl Stryfe? She smiled. No, it was much more than that; Vash's feelings for Meryl. At least, that's what she liked to think. Now she wondered if they would ever see him again. It had been a while since they had last seen Vash. He might come back, he might never come back. She hoped it was the former because even though Meryl didn't show it, Milly knew that Meryl was at least partially heartbroken when he left.

She scanned the crowd again when something caught her eye. A lone figure in the distance, too far away to tell who it was, walked towards the town. All that Milly could make out was a shadow-like specter that loomed toward the town. But as the 'specter' approached, she was pretty sure she recognized it from somewhere.

"Ma'am, Ma'am!" Milly said, nudging to the other Bernardelli Insurance girl.

"What is it Milly?" Meryl asked, wondering what all Milly's had been shifted to.

"Look!" She replied, pointing towards the figure that was steadily getting closer.

Meryl squinted her eyes, trying to find anything familiar. Then her eyes widened as she thought, _'It couldn't be him… could it?'_

"Ma'am," Said Millly, who also seemed to realize the same thing Meryl did, "I think that's Mr. Vash!"

Suddenly, Meryl felt her hopes rising and she berated herself for it. It could've just been another traveler coming from another city. She told herself that the chances of Vash coming back were very minimal. Even so, part of her heart wanted it to be Vash. She shook her head at realizing what she had just thought. This was Vash! Who could love a mischief-making, doughnut-loving idiot… who was so kind, caring, and compassionate? Again she shook her head when her thoughts went in the opposite direction they had started.

Looking around, she saw that Milly was no longer with her. Instead, she was already half-way there to the lone figure. She fought with herself, wondering if she should go and meet Vash… if it was Vash that is. And utter look of surprise spilled across her face when she realized that she herself was quite a distance away from the well, the point from where she had started. It seemed that her legs had made the decision for her. She looked back towards the well, and noticed that she was quite a distance away. Then, for no apparent, reason, she broke into a run.

The farther she ran, the clearer the visage of the distant person became. There, she saw it. She saw the broom-like blonde hair that seemed unmoving even during tornado strong winds. There she saw that long, red trench coat that swayed under the wind's gentle breeze. Finally, she was close enough to make out facial features and she stopped running, staying still. She was still quite a distance away, but she didn't need to get any closer to tell it was Vash. Milly had confirmed it for her when she came up to Vash with a huge grin. Milly jumped up and down in a childish fashion, but Vash seemed happy to get such an enthusiastic greeting.

"Vash! You're back!" Milly enthusiastically yelled… right in front of his face.

"Whoa! Hey there big girl! It's been a while huh?" Vash said as he gave her his trade-mark grin. Suddenly, the air around them became still as Milly seemed to have noticed Vash's 'luggage'.

"Is that your brother?" Milly asked, a serious expression on her face. Vash shivered slightly, it was always scary to see Milly's happy face so serious and grave. Not a hint of a smile graced Milly's lips.

But for his part, Vash also took the situation seriously as he informed her. "Yea, this is Knives… the one who made me destroy July."

The both stood quiet for a moment, before Vash spoke again, in a lighter tone. "Well, we'll talk about that later." He said, trying to think of something to say. Then he realized something was missing.

"So where's the little one?" Vash asked jokingly, referring to Meryl's short stature.

The serious expression on Milly's face was suddenly swept away, replaced by a small smile. "Oh! I sort of left her behind when I first saw you." Milly turned around and Vash looked behind Milly; both seeing the lone figure of Meryl standing at a distance away.

"Ma'am! Look! It's Vash! Come say hi!" Milly yelled as she waved towards the dark-haired lady.

Vash smiled at seeing the short fry of a friend. Then a surprised look crossed his face when she began to walk away. He looked towards Milly who returned the clueless expression that he had. Vash didn't know what was going on and Milly was sure that Meryl would've been happy at seeing Vash alive and well. So what had been the problem? But before she could answer herself, a problem arose.

A thud was heard, as the form of Vash suddenly fell to the ground along with his brother whom he had been carrying. Alarmed, Milly kneeled down and was shocked to see that Vash had bullet wounds all over his body. They were bleeding, and at a fast rate at that. Anxiety took control over her as she looked back towards Meryl's continuously receding form. She realized that she would receive no help from the other Insurance girl. Looking back towards the body, she decided that she would have to do it alone… or else Vash might not make it. Dropping the 'stun' gun that she always carried, she hefted Vash on one shoulder and his brother the other and began the trek to house Meryl and her were staying at.

XXXXXX

As she closed the door behind her, a feeling of overwhelming frustration and sadness overcame her. Why had she done that? Why hadn't she gone and greeted Vash. Ever since he had left, she had worried about him non-stop, with Milly sometimes having to comfort her. Meryl knew her what her feelings for Vash were… as much as she tried to deny it. But to do something so cold, especially to a person who had suffered enough as it was.

With loose shoulders and a hung head, she trudged up to her room and landed face first on her bed. At this very moment, she felt like screaming. At the same time though, she lacked the strength to even turn over. For a brief moment, she wondered if she would suffocate in before turning her head to the side. She let loose a frustrated as she hit the bed with all her might, just to relieve the building stress. She knew Vash would arrive soon, after all, where else would Milly take him? How she dreaded, yet looked forward towards their next encounter.

In a moment, she knew Vash would come here, his loud voice disturbing the peace. She knew that Vash would be up to his usual antics, pestering her to buy him doughnuts. She knew that she would get annoying by his antics. She knew all of this… but little did she know how wrong she was for at the moment, a screaming Milly barged in through the door.

"Meryl help!" Milly yelled, her voice forbidding Meryl to calmly lay her head back down on the bed.

Instantly, Meryl got up and ran down the stairs. Blood stained Milly's shoulders and with sudden horror, she realized the blood belonged to Vash. Luckily her reasoning came back to her as she cleared a table that that stood in the living room. It was small, but it would have to do. Unlike last time, they couldn't just carry him upstairs since he could be dead by then.

Another problem arose. The other person the Milly had brought also needed to be taken care of. He was bleeding, though not as badly as Vash. Figuring the man would be fine, Meryl prepped Vash, taking off his jacket and the shirt underneath. She gasped at the wounds. If she didn't clean them now, they would surely become infected. And so, she got to work.

XXXX

Bleary eyes opened to the stinging light of the sun that filtered through the window. A wave of pain washed over the man as he found it hard to breathe. He grunted as he struggled to sit up, but failed and ended up falling back onto the bed.

He looked around for a brief moment, trying to get a bearing on his surroundings. He sniffed the air and his face contorted into a look of utter disgust. It smelled of 'spiders'. He reached for a gun… only to find it missing. That's when he came to realize that the only thing he had on were his pants and bandages. He brought a hand to a wound and pressed his hand on it. He hissed in pain, but did not remove his hand. He brought his hand up to his nose and sniffed. Yes, there were definitely spiders here. A cold rage filled him as he tried to get up again, this time being more successful, but only a by a small margin. His back was now resting against the wall, the stress of getting up draining him of what litter energy he had to begin with. Reluctantly, his eyes began to fall, feeling heavy after all the sudden exertion. A malicious lip twitched into a sadistic grin. He would take care of the spiders.Of that he was sure of. Before long, he was fast asleep.

XXXX

"Ugh, I feel like my head's been run over by a sand steamer…" Said a dizzy Vash, awakening to the smell of… doughnuts?

"Good morning. How are you feeling Vash?" Vash looked up, hearing the soft voice that belonged to Meryl. She was smiling at him, all the while holding up a box of doughnuts in front of him.

He pointed at them. "Are those for me?" He asked hopefully. She nodded.

Without a second's notice, he snatched the box away from a startled Meryl. He grabbed a doughnut, looking at it like one would when reunited with a lost lover. He bit into it… and tears of happiness came pouring out.

"This is so delicious! This is the best doughnut I've ever had!" He yelled, looking at the stupefied Insurance girl. What he did next caused her even greater surprised: He hugged her.

"Thank you so much Meryl! This is what I needed!" He released her, only to grab another doughnut and stuff it into his mouth. He grinned happily at her, small crumbes falling from his mouth and making a mess on his recently applied bandages.

Meryl looked at Vash, and smiled. It was a smile of relief. She was thankful that Vash hadn't changed… even if that meant he would still be annoying. But somehow, as long as Vash was here, she could put up with his moronic attitude… from time to time at least.

"Are you alright Meryl?" Vash asked, noticing the spaced out look Meryl had.

"Huh? Um, yea! I'm alright. The important thing is, how are _you_ feeling Vash?" She asked, changing the subject away from her.

He shrugged, which had been a bad idea since it caused him to wince in pain. Meryl frowned in annoyance. He hadn't complained when he grabbed the doughnuts, and yet he was clearly in plain at the small movement caused by shrugging. Did doughnuts really have that much control over him? She bet that if she gave Vash twenty boxes of doughnuts, he could probably break all his bones and not notice it. That was depressing in a way.

He gave her a small lopsided grin as he said, "Guess I'm not so fine after all."

Meryl couldn't help but shake her head. "One day you're going to give me a heart attack."

Vash mock-frowned as he replied, "If that happened, who would give me doughnuts?"

Meryl gave him a look of disbelief which he replied by grinning childishly. "Vash, you can get doughnuts _anywhere_. Besides, it's not like I make them anyways."

"Yea, but I like it better when you give them to me. They taste better." Came Vash's innocent reply. A small blush stained Meryl's features as she suddenly felt her heart skip a beat. Why had such a simple comment like that made her feel all fuzzy inside? She knew, but she still didn't want to admit it.

"D-Don't say such ridiculous things! They would taste _exactly_ the same if I gave them to you or some stranger on the street did!" She huffed before stalking away, not wanting her nerves to get the better of her.

Vash looked at the box of doughnuts as he asked himself, "Did I do something wrong?"


End file.
